Device for preventing rails of railway-tracks from spreading.



No. 756,247. PATENTED APR. 5, 1904.

J. D. LEGGE.

DEVICE FOR PREVENTING RAILS OP 'RAILWAY TRAKS FROM lSPREADINGl yAPPLICATION FILED DED.. 14, 1903.

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UNITED STATES Patented April 5, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOSHUA D. LEGGE, HANCOCK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO MARCUS A.BENNETT AND MELVIN R. MILLINS, OF EAST NASSAU,

NEW YORK.

DEVICE FOR PRYEVENTING RAILS F RAILWAY-TRACKS FROM SPREADING.

SPECIFICATION forming' part 0f Letters Patent N0. 756,247, dated Apri]5, 1904.

Application led December 14, 1903. Serial No. 185,107. (No model.) *Y

To all whom it may concern:-

Be it known that I, JOSHUA D. LEGGE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hancock, in the county of Delaware and State of New York,have invented new and useful Improvements in Devices for PreventingRails'of Railway-Tracks from Spreading, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates` todevices for pre- IO venting rails ofrailway-tracks from spreading; and it consists of novel devices andparts and novel combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafterdescribed, and set forth in the claims.` I 5 The object of thisinvention is to provide, in combination with a railway-rail and the tieson which the rail may be mounted, a railbrace, a brace-support, and abrace-tie which may coact with the outer end portion of a tie and withthe outer side of the rail mounted on said tie, whereby the rail will bestrongly braced from its outer side and hold the same from being crowdedoutwardly from its normal placement on the ties. Other objects andadvantages will be clearly understood from a reading of thisdescription, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is a plan of arail and ties of a railway-track, (a section,) showing this inventionapplied to abutting rail-joints. Fig. 2 is a plan ofthe same applied torails having lipjoints. Fig. 3A is a section of end portion of' a woodtie, rail mounted ony the same, and the novel parts of this'inventionsecured in place for operating with the rail from its outer side. Fig.4: is a plan of the rail-brace. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same.Fig. 6 is a plan of the brace-tie plate. Fig. 7 is a side elevation ofthe same. Fig. 8 is a plan of the brace-support. Fig. Y9 is a side edgeelevation of the same. Fig. 10 is a plan of the inner side plate servingas a fish-plate, and Fig. 1l is a side edge view of the same. l

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

In the drawings, A A A are rails of a railway-track, made of steel andsecured to ties B B by spikes a a and laid with ends of rails abuttingeach other or with lapping joints, as are practiced in railways.

C C are rail-braces embodying the features of this invention, employedtwo or more in each length of rails A. These rail-braces are made,preferably, to be duplicates of each other in respect to the essentialfeatures and elements which the said braces embody. A description of oneof theserail-braces will sufce for that ofthe other.

` The rail-brace C is made'to embody head C', body C2, and foot C3, allmade integral and preferably from a bar of steel rolled out by suitablerolls, as employed in rolling-mills,

and then cut, preferably while yet red-hot, as

practiced. VThe head C comprises projection o, upper side recess c', andlower side recess c2, Vall integral, as` shown. The body C2 connectshead C with the foot C3 and is made with a gradually-thickened portionc3 between 7o said head and foot portions for giving to the said body anelement for preventing said body portion C2 from bending or bucklingunder endwise pressure or thrust.d The f oot portion C3 of this brace ismade with a horizontal lower 7 5 line of bearing-surface o4c and isprovided with openings or notches c5, made in it from its outer end edgec6. The said lower line of bearing-surface c5 of foot C3 is preferablymade from two to four inches in length, or more or less, according tothe height ofthe rail to be' braced, or the service the rail is torender, or as both its height and service may seemdto require or testsof endurance thrust may demonstrate to be best. These rail-braces Cmaybe made in width from two to eight'inches, or more or less', accordingto the height of the rail-tread above the base of the rail, or theservice the rail isto give, or as both may require for best results. 9o

D Dl are vertical brace-supports secured upright against the outer sideof rail or rails A by suitable bolts CZ, one or more, passed throughsaid support and through correspond# ing perforations through thevertical web a, which connects the tread portion a of the rail with baseportion @Tof the same. This bracesupport is made in its verticalextension from base portion a2 upward toward the lower side a3 of thetread portion c' as will nicely adjust projection c of the head portion'C' ofthe brace to between the upper end' of the basesupportvD and thesaid lower side a3 of the tread portion of the rail, while the oppositeside plate D may be extended up from base a2 of the rail to and againstthe lower side of the tread, as shown. These plates D and D may be madewith a greater length than the width of the brace C, so as to serve asiishplates when preferred.

E is the brace-tie plate, which is arranged between the end portions B'B of the wood tie and the base a of the rail and the foot portion C3 ofthe rail-brace C. This brace-tie is made preferably of steel and with awidth corresponding with that of the foot C3 of the said brace and isprovided at its brace end with an upturned iange e for abutment againstthe outer end edge C of the foot end of the brace, and its opposite endis provided with a similar flange e for holding with the inner side edgeof the base (t3 of the rail.

In applying my above-described improved rail-brace, brace-tie, andbrace-support to rails and the ties of a railway the wood ties B Will belaid as is the practice and the rails A will also be laid parallel witheach other with the brace-ties E between the Outer end p0rtions of thewood ties and the base of each rail and at suitable intervals apart,with a brace and its brace-tie and brace-support at each joint of therails, (within butt-joint or lap-joints of the same.) The wood ties towhich the rail-brace C is to be applied are of such length as may allowthe outer end portions B to project outward each way past the base ofthe rails and have a suitable extension from the latter as to permitbraces C to be applied by their heads C to the said rails and to theties by their foot ends C3 after the brace-tie plates have been placedand still have a suflicient extension for receiving spikes F to bedriven into the wood of said extensions of end portions B of the tie andhold with the same. In placing these several parts in their order ofarrangement shown I prefer to lirst place the brace-tie plate on theties B, which are to bear the same, then set the rails A on the innerend portions of said brace-tie plates with the flange e against theinner edge of the base of each rail and with the perforations or notchese2 in the flange e registering with the notches b in the inner edge ofthe base of each rail. The brace-supports D are then placed against therails and at opposite the joints of the same when the ends of the railsare to be braced and are secured in place against the web portion L ofthe rail with its perforations d registering with perforations in thesaid web and those in the opposite side plate D', when said plates D andD will be secured against the sides of Web a of the rails withbrace-support D against the outer side of said webs. The rail-braces Cwill now be applied to the outer side of rails A with its projection cbetween lower side of the tread of the rail and the upper end edge ofthe bracesupport D and with its end bearing against the upper portion ofweb a, as shown, while the inner sides of recesses c c2 in the head C ofsaid brace have bearing against the sides of said tread of the rail andagainst the outer side of the upper end of the brace-supports,

lwhich are rigidly secured to the outer side of the web of the rail andsupported from the upper side of the base of the same. The foot portionC3 of the rail-brace is applied to the iianged outer end portion of thebrace-tie with its notches or openings c5 registering with the notchesin the brace-tie plate, when said foot portion of the brace, togetherwith the outer end portion of the brace-tie, will be rigidly secured tothe outer end portion B of the wood tie B, when the rail or rails willbe strongly supported from being crowded outwardly by any pressureagainst the rail from its inner side as rails of curves of tracks aresubjected to by the pressure exerted against such rails in curves by thewheels of the rolling-stock moving on said rails.

I prefer to employ one of braces C, together with a brace-support and abrace-tie, at the joints of all curving rails and to provide such partswith bodies of similar width, so as to give ample support to the ends ofthe two abutting rails or rails of lap-joints,.while the said braces,brace-supports, and brace-ties for operations may be of less Width andbe placed in number of one or more at preferred points in the length ofeach straight rail, While curved rails in curves of the track may haveapplied to them in their lengths several of the abovenamed devices atsuitable intervals apart.

All the above-mentioned parts maybe produced cheaply from steel byprocess of rolling and cross-cutting of the barsvso produced.

Having described my invention, what I claim isl. In device forpreventing rails of railwaytracks from spreading, the combination with arailway-rail of a rail-brace provided with a head for bearing against aside of the tread portion of a rail and a side of the vertical webadjoining said tread portion, and having a horizontal fiat-foot endportion connected with the said head end, by an inclined body portionwith the lower side of said foot end portion on a plane with the lowerside of the base portion of the rail, and a brace-tie plate interposedbetween both the base of the rail and the foot end of the brace, anddevices for securing the rail and foot end of the brace and saidbrace-tie to an outer end portion of a tie.

2. In a device for preventing'rails of railway-tracks from,spreading,the combination with a tie a braced tie-plate provided at each TOO IIS

end with upward-extended anges and with openings for passage of spikes,and a rail having a base portion which may be secured to said tie, of abrace-support secured to the. off outer side of the web of the rail withits foot end on the upper side of the base of the same and extended uptoward the lower side of the tread of the rail with an opening betweenthe latter and said brace-support, and a rail-brace provided with a headportion, an inclined body portion and a foot portion, the head portionhaving bearing against an outer portion of the tread portion of the railand the lower side of the same and against the web portion and on theupper end of the said brace portion, and the foot portion having bearingon the bracetie in a line on a plane with the lower side of the base ofthe rail and means for securing said rail, foot end of the rail-braceand the said brace-tie to the tie on which said rail, brace andbrace-tie are mounted..

3. In a device for preventing rails of a railway-track from spreading, arail-brace made of rolled steel and having a head portion, an-

inclined body portion, and a foot portion all integral, the head portionprovided with a projection and recesses Jfor bearing against the treadportion of a rail at both a lateral side and a lower side of the sameand for bearing on the upper end of a brace-support, the said inclinedbody portion gradually thickened from its ends to the middle of lengththereof for counteracting tendency to springing and buckling, and thefoot portion having its lower side on a plane with the lower side of thebase of a rail, said rail-brace may be applied to and with end notchesfor receiving shapes for securing the foot end of said brace to anouterl end portion of a tie to which the rail may be

